Blame it on the Summer Heat
by Gisachi
Summary: [ONESHOT] "Warui, Ran… It's because of this summer heat, I swear… It's making my head ache…and at that moment, I couldn't help but notice how kissable you were… even until now. Damnit." SxR fluff! Rated T for minor suggestive themes.


It was a hot, Wednesday afternoon. Summer had just kicked in and everyone in Teitan High School was already planning their summer vacation since school term was nearing its end. Meanwhile, four people remained stuck in the school library. Shinichi, Ran, Sera, and Sonoko went there after homeroom in order to help Shinichi with the lessons he had missed while he was away, plus the extra credits the teachers fortunately gave him to make up for his absence.

"_Mou_, I can't believe we're stuck in the library helping Shinichi with his extra credits! I should be planning our beach trips or watching Makoto-san's karate training right at this moment!" Sonoko scoffed, obviously annoyed.

"Well, Ran-san did say that Kudo-kun is going to treat us to a delicious ramen shop after this so why not?" Sera casually remarked.

"C'mon guys, it won't take a while since Shinichi's already smart, so let's just do our best so we can finish early!" Ran justified. It was actually her who convinced the two girls to help Shinichi catch up with his backlog. She believed it would be more enjoyable, not to mention faster, if there were four of them doing the work rather than just her and Shinichi. More importantly, she wanted Shinichi to finish all this work so that it wouldn't have to carry over during summer break.

A sulking Shinichi let out a big sigh. "Ran, I told you that it's fine, no need to drag the others to help me."

"Shinichi, the more people I invite, the faster we finish. Besides, you should be thankful they're helping you! Who's fault is it again that he's missed almost one semester worth of classes?" Ran looked at him with half-lidded eyes.

"_Barou—_It's not like I have a choice! You—" Shinichi was interrupted by the cold stare of the librarian at him, who was already pointing to the '_Silence Please'_ sign plastered on the wall.

Sonoko and Sera stifled their laughter. "There, there, no need to fight over this! Why don't you just make up?" Sera requested them in a low voice.

"Anything for my Shinichi-kuuuun~~~ Now kiss! No one's looking except us!" Sonoko teased, making both Ran and Shinichi blush and Sera laugh.

It had been two months since Shinichi returned to Ran permanently. They started dating officially ever since Ran manifested her acceptance to Shinichi's London confession during their school trip in Kyoto. And now that they're together, Ran found it relieving how she didn't need to deny her feelings anymore to her friends whenever they tease her. In fact, it made her really happy that she could now openly express her fondness for Shinichi. They would hold hands during their walk home from school. They had even kissed, thrice, technically. Once on the cheek during their Kyoto trip, and another on the lips, albeit accidentally, on one fine spring afternoon while sitting under the cherry blossoms, during lunch period, when Ran suddenly looked to her left while Shinichi's face was close to hers because he was removing a sakura petal from her hair. Although their lips only momentarily brushed against each other, their hearts pounded the loudest. Even louder than the time they almost kissed on the lips at Kiyomizudera temple. After that accidental kiss, the two of them stared at each other, with flustered faces, and after five seconds, they laughed. After their laughs subsided, they eventually found themselves kissing once more, this time longer and sweeter, with smiles curling in their lips as they did. The latter kiss was what they considered as their first official kiss as a couple.

Back in the library, the four of them had already sorted out the Calculus, English, and Chemistry books Shinichi needed. Sera and Shinichi placed the stacks of books on their table across the librarian. It appeared that they were the only ones remaining there, and most of the students had already gone home or were attending their after-school club activities. Ran had no karate training every Wednesday, that's why she chose this day to help Shinichi out. In reality though, Shinichi really didn't need help given his extraordinary intellect, but nonetheless Ran still insisted, being the caring and responsible girlfriend that she was. Shinichi could only do nothing but accept her assistance.

Only a week had passed since summer began, yet the heat felt like it was almost at its peak. The intense warmth and humidity defeated the air conditioner and ceiling fans inside the room. Shinichi was trying to concentrate on the Calculus textbook in front of him, but Sonoko and Ran, who were sitting across each other, distracted him with their toned down voices. He wasn't even trying to eavesdrop but their conversation was easy enough to hear from where he sat. They were basically just talking about random girl stuff. But among other things, Shinichi couldn't help but notice how Ran incessantly fanned herself with her hands during the whole conversation.

"_Must be the weather_," Shinichi thought. He tried rereading the problem set in front of him, but surprisingly, he had a hard time concentrating. He kept on glancing back to where Ran sat, which was beside him. Ran, with the back of her hand, began to wipe the drops of sweat forming on her neck and under her chin. To Shinichi, looking at Ran do that was a strangely… _interesting _sight. He didn't know why. Not even attempting to find an answer, he just shrugged it off and resumed answering the Calculus textbook.

Barely twenty minutes later, he was already more than halfway done with the Math coverage. Of course, that's just Shinichi being Shinichi. Ran scooted closer to check on his progress, and upon seeing that he was almost done, Ran ruffled his bangs in front.

"Good job, _Meitantei-san_!" Ran praised. Shinichi pretended that it didn't affect him so he muttered a silent "tch" under his breath. Deep down though, he had to admit that his heart jumped a bit when Ran patted his head.

"After that, you do English. Sonoko and I already marked the pages you need to answer. And after English, you'll do Chemistry. Sera-san's marking the exercises right now," Ran instructed, even though she was desperately trying her best not to sound like a teacher or else Shinichi would make fun of her.

"_Hai, hai, sensei_," Shinichi snorted. Too bad he already did, much to Ran's annoyance.

Not long after, Shinichi finished all the assigned exercises for Math. Just as he was about to get the English book placed by Ran near his seat, Ran halted him.

"Hold on, I think I made a mistake, Shinichi. This English book is the wrong volume. I need to find the correct one. Let me just go look for it."

"All right, I'll help you," Shinichi remarked. This earned him a smile and a thank you from Ran.

Shinichi stood up, stretched his arms and back, and accompanied his girlfriend to the shelves area to look for the correct book. Ran started browsing the area behind the first shelf, so Shinichi went to the row of shelves after it. Upon reaching that area, he noticed that this portion of the room was warmer than where the tables were. Apparently, the air conditioning unit on this side of the room was broken, so it wasn't really doing anything except making Shinichi even more pissed. Shinichi was already hating this summer heat. He couldn't wait to go home, turn the AC on in his own library, and read Sherlock Holmes for the nth time to his heart's content. But for now, he had no choice but to tolerate this inferno. Ran wouldn't let the four of them go unless he'd finish half of his total backlog today.

Ran was already done searching the first row of shelves, so she proceed to the next row where Shinichi was currently at. Ran was at the farther end of the shelf near the windows overlooking the school field, while Shinichi remained on the left end side nearer the library card catalog. They were two bookshelves away from the table occupied by Sonoko and Sera. Shinichi could see the two girls from the spaces left by the uneven height of the books on the shelves. Both of them seem to be minding their own business. Books and bags were scattered on the table. Sera was now concentrating on a mystery novel she found earlier, while Sonoko had her attention on her phone and was browsing social media.

Upon reaching the second aisle and before Ran resumed her search, she asked Shinichi if he had already found the book, to which the boy replied in the negative. Ran sighed, and eventually she transferred her attention to the lineup of books in front of her. Shinichi looked at her from afar.

Even from a distance of three shelves away, Shinichi noticed that Ran was also starting to get irked by the hot temperature. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her mouth formed a small frown. He also couldn't avoid noticing the moisture formulating on the side of her face. Shinichi stared at the sweat which trickled down Ran's forehead. The sweat traced a line down her cheek, then her jaw, then down her neck until it settled on the crook of her collarbone…

Shinichi gulped.

He didn't notice how long he had been staring until Ran called his name.

"Shinichi? Are you okay?" Ran quizzically looked at Shinichi with her ever innocent eyes.

"O-oh, sorry, I just spaced out…" Shinichi struggled to look for an excuse and tried to hide the flustered look on his face. Of course he couldn't possibly say that he was admiring her face, and how… _appealing_ it looks, even more with sweat running down on it!

"Ugh, damn this heat. It's making me sweat a lot." Ran sighed as she struggled to remove her blazer uniform, thereby leaving her with her white long sleeve shirt and green tie. This caught Shinichi off guard, who found himself staring again.

Shinichi could see that the sweat made Ran's white shirt semi-opaque. He could almost make out of it the straps and corners of her bra. Ran unbuttoned the two top buttons of her shirt to reveal more of her skin but still careful not to expose what's beneath it further. Ran just wanted some air amidst the scorching heat. Yet no matter how innocent her intentions were, to Shinichi's mind, he knew for sure that Ran's acts were making him feel some type of way.

"Damn right it is…" Shinichi muttered under his breath, earning him a curious stare from Ran.

Ran seemed like she was about to say something but then decided against it on the last minute. She shrugged, placed her uniform on one of the stepladders piled with books, and finally resumed her business at the other end of the bookshelf by the window, trying to find the book she needed.

Meanwhile, Shinichi stood there and was already mentally cursing himself. "_Goddamnit, Kudou! Get your shit together! You're looking like a pervert right now ogling at her like this!"_ Shinichi ruffled his hair trying to shake off all the provocative things swarming his mind. _This is not the right time, damn it._ Not the right time… but was it just his imagination that from his peripheral view, he could see Ran glancing at his direction? Was it just his imagination that Ran's face showed hints of red? Was it just the sun that's making her face look even more rosy and beautiful, even when he's just seeing all of these from the corner of his eye?

Shinichi finally decided to take a good look at Ran. He was surprised to see that indeed, Ran was staring back at him. With red cheeks and pleading eyes. Almost as if she was wanting Shinichi to say something, or do something. Or…

"Ran? Is something the matter?" Shinichi finally spoke.

"Ah—Well, I, umm…I can't quite reach this book on the top shelf…" Ran shyly cooed, pointing at the thick book on top of the shelf, entitled _HS Intermediate English: Volume 3_.

"There's a stepladder beside you, you know," Shinichi remarked.

"But it's filled with books and it might take time to remove all and place them back right after," Ran pouted. Seeming to have regretted her request, she followed up, "…But oh well, I'll just do it myself."

Shinichi chuckled softly. "Just kidding. Here, let me get it for you."

Shinichi approached Ran until they were only about 10 centimeters apart. Ran could almost feel her heart jump out of her chest as Shinichi rested his left arm on her left shoulder, so that she was between Shinichi and the bookshelf. Shinichi's face was so close to Ran's right cheek and she swore that this distance was making her feel things out of the ordinary. Shinichi tiptoed a little and extended his right arm to reach the book on top of the shelf. Ran looked up to glance at Shinichi's face, and she was not quite sure if what she saw was a blushing Shinichi, or a Shinichi whose face reflected the red shades of the sun. She also noticed that Shinichi was perspiring. Unlike her, he still had his thick blue school blazer on, and Ran thought that it must be why Shinichi was sweating so much. The summer heat was really taking a toll on them.

Shinichi finally got the book and as he was about to hand it to her, he froze.

Without warning, Ran's hand unconsciously moved to unbutton Shinichi's blazer. Slowly. One button at a time.

Wide-eyed Shinichi stared at oblivious Ran.

Silence.

…

"_Omae_—" Shinichi really didn't know what to say. His face was already as red as a tomato at this point.

Ran didn't realize the gravity of her actions until she noticed her hands in front of her, almost done unbuttoning the whole of Shinichi's school blazer. She flushed.

"Wah—"

Now Ran didn't know what to say either.

"I'm– I'm sorry, I just saw how drenched you were in sweat while you were getting the book, so I wanted to remove your blazer to cool you do—"

Ran didn't finish her sentence as she was interrupted by Shinichi's one hand on her left wrist and the other on the back of her waist, pulling her close to press his lips against hers.

Ran's heart leaped.

"_Shinichi—what on earth…!"_

Her brain was screaming for her heart. Shinichi was right in front of her, and his lips were covering hers.

She tried to steady her footing as she was about to lose her balance, but then Shinichi's hand behind her supported her and helped her adjust her position, and this pushed her even closer to him, removing any inch of space left.

Just as she was about to completely process what was happening and before she could close her already half-opened eyes to reciprocate, she heard a voice at the other end of the room.

"Hey, Ran-san and Kudo-kun? _Daijoubu? _What's that loud sound?" Sera whispered loudly from her chair, so as not to irk the librarian more than that how loud sound already did.

Alarmed, the two teenagers broke off the kiss. Shinichi didn't even notice that he dropped the book Ran asked him to get and that it made a loud, echoing noise on the marble floor of the silent library. He didn't notice how he dropped it before his own hands instinctively pulled Ran to him.

"N-nothing! Shinichi just dropped a book…" a nervous Ran replied, bobbing her head from behind the bookshelves to see Sera. She was evidently trying her best to sound normal, and luckily, Sera didn't notice anything suspicious from her voice. From the spaces in the bookshelves, Shinichi and Ran had a good view of the table, and there they could see Sera's dismissive expression as she went back to the book she was reading.

Little did Sera know that from behind these bookshelves, Ran and Shinichi were struggling to regain their composure from what literally transpired just one minute ago. Shinichi had already removed his hands from Ran's waist and wrist, and was now facing the wall on the other side, hiding his embarrassment. Shinichi had his head bowed, his right hand scratching his nape and his left hand on his waist. _Was he regretting what he did…?_ Ran thought to herself.

While Ran was lost in thought, she and Shinichi were again startled by Sera's voice. Although a bit soft, it was audible from two shelves away. "Ran-san, I'll just go to the toilet for a while. Sonoko-san stepped out of the library a minute ago to receive a call from Makoto-san, and I don't think she'll be back soon. Telling you this just in case you'd wonder where we went! Of course, we're not going to ditch you and Kudo-kun's treat later!" Sera paused for a moment, and then added, "…Damn this summer, isn't it so hot?" before she finally marched away from the two reddened couple.

Sera had noooo idea.

Ran's attention went back to the guy in front of him, who was now half-facing her although his eyes were still directed to the bookshelf. Now, save for the librarian, it's just the two of them in the library. They could hear loudly the sound of the ceiling fan and the distant noise of students playing soccer outside.

"Sorry, Ran,my bad…" Shinichi finally spoke his first words.

Ran gave Shinichi a relatively long, questioning look before she replied. "Shinichi… what for?"

"…Eh?" Shinichi might not have expected that kind of reply from her. He was expecting more of along the lines of "Shinichi, what did you just do?" or "_Baka _Shinichi!" Yet, Ran didn't. So he just stood there, looking at her, with one eyebrow raised, and very much confused.

"_Ha-ha-ha. This clueless, idiot boyfriend," _Ran sighed and her expression softened. She couldn't contain herself so she let a cute giggle escape from her lips. Ran inched closer to him. Shinichi did as well.

"You're not mad…?" Shinichi asked.

Ran inhaled deeply before answering. "I mean… we're already dating, so isn't it pretty normal to kiss like lovers do?" she said, tilting her head to the side. Shinichi blushed at his girlfriend's statement.

"It's just that… given the sequence of events, I got startled with what I did… I'm sorry, I mean…you were just so close to me getting that book and I noticed your sweat trickling down your face, so I wanted to help by unbuttoning your uniform… but I did it without any warning… and then what you did after…you kissed me… inside the library, a public place with the possibility that other people might see…and then I actually thought Sera-san saw us so I quickly pushed you back…" Ran stammered, her face getting one shade redder upon remembering what just happened.

This time, Shinichi was the one trying to contain his grin. "_Warui, _Ran… It's because of this summer heat, I swear… It's making my head ache…and at that moment, I couldn't help but notice how kissable you were… even until now. Damnit."

When he said that, Shinichi's eyes landed on Ran's lips, but then he quickly managed to look at someplace else like the shelf before Ran could even realize where he was actually staring.

Again, silence.

Shinichi glanced back at Ran. Ran stared back, never removing her eyes away from him. This time, Shinichi was absolutely sure that Ran was indeed blushing. And he could feel himself blushing, too.

Tension filled the air as the two teenagers closed their distance even more.

Ran broke the silence first. "_…_Shinichi, look at your sweat! Wait, let me get my handkerchief." She rushed to her blazer resting on top of the stepladder and pulled out a handkerchief from its pocket. She walked back to Shinichi and started wiping the sweat from his forehead.

Ran and Shinichi were aware of the close proximity of their faces. Ran was holding Shinichi's arm and the other was holding the handkerchief. Shinichi stared at Ran while the latter wiped the sweat dripping down the side of his face. Ran was staring, too, simultaneously at the spot she was wiping and then at his hazel eyes. The look in his eyes was something she had never seen before, and she could feel it bear a hole on her own. It was enthralling. Some kind of energy was building up in between their gaze, and they could very much feel it within them.

Not daring to break their eye contact, Shinichi removed the already unbuttoned blazer from his body. Ran couldn't help but steal a glance at his white polo shirt, some of its fabric sticking to his skin because of the sweat, and she unconsciously bit her lip when she saw some of his toned muscles through them.

Shinichi carelessly let his blazer fall to the floor.

"It's getting hotter, so…" Shinichi muttered, his face inching closer to Ran's.

"Yeah…" whispered Ran under her breath, tilting her head up slowly to meet Shinichi's.

For the second time of the day, their lips locked perfectly. Ran let go of the handkerchief, and that free hand had now snaked its way behind Shinichi's neck while her other arm was on his chest. Shinichi's hands gripped Ran's waist gently. They were such an exquisite fit. Save for the white noise in the library, their heartbeats merging were the only sound they could hear. Slowly, their lips started moving, careful not to make very loud kisses in case anyone was within hearing range.

Ran slightly opened her mouth to breathe, and this gave Shinichi the opportunity to put his tongue inside it. Ran moaned at such foreign feeling. It startled her and made her knees weak. Never did it occur to her that Shinichi could be this bold. As if competing with her boyfriend, Ran did the same to him, and she felt her boyfriend's hair stood at its end. They let their tongues linger in each other's mouths, familiarizing themselves with each other's taste. The hand at the back of Shinichi's neck was now buried on the latter's hair, massaging it rhythmically in accordance with their kisses. This kiss was strangely satisfying and entirely different from the first one they shared under the sakura tree. That one was shy and sweet. This one was daring and fierce.

Ran didn't realize until two minutes into their heated exchange that Shinichi had already trapped her between him and the bookshelf. Shinichi's arm was resting against the shelf while his right hand was still on his girlfriend's waist. Shinichi was holding her so possessively now that Ran was pretty sure his fingers would leave a mark on her back. Both of Ran's hands had already cupped Shinichi's face, giving her the control of how deeper she'd want their kiss to be. Shinichi let out a gasp when Ran bit the bottom of his lips playfully. He paused, looked at Ran, whose eyes remained semi-closed from being drunk in their passionate lip-locking session. Shinichi smirked at such sight before he claimed her lips again.

Kudou Shinichi and Mouri Ran, hidden in between the tall shelves of the library of Teitan High School, kissing. No, _making out_. If someone found out about this, they'd be the talk of the whole school for months. Their classmates wouldn't let this go for sure. Shinichi could just imagine the faces their classmates would make and the incriminating questions that would follow.

But for some reason, right now, Shinichi didn't seem to care. Neither did he want to stop. And looking at Ran… it seemed…she didn't want to stop, too?

"Shinichi… we have roughly five minutes…until they return…" Ran purred in between the short breaths from their kisses. Shinichi just let out a gruntled "nn" and a slight nod from his head, still engaged in their lip-locking session.

"Shinichi…did you hear m—" Ran didn't finish her sentence because she was interrupted by Shinichi biting her left ear. She almost made a loud sound, but Shinichi was able to suppress it with two fingers over her lips. Shinichi then leaned close to her ear, making Ran shiver. In a low voice, he said, "Yes, Ran, I heard you…That's why let's make those five minutes count."

Shinichi this time traced butterfly kisses on Ran's cheek, chin, jaw, and corners of her lips, until he went lower. Ran tilted her head to the right to give him more access to her neck. She didn't know anymore if the sweat on her neck was because of the summer heat, or because of their activity, or both. While keeping himself busy planting kisses on the spot between Ran's neck and shoulder, Ran instinctively put one leg around Shinichi, making Shinichi jolt. He actually felt something below him rise. This cause Shinichi to suck on Ran's neck hard, leaving a mark on her skin. Ran, on the other hand, gasped at the sensation. Shinichi licked it to appease her, and Ran moaned. They were having too much fun. This was all new to Ran, and she knew that this was new to Shinichi, too. She decided to tease him a little more by moving the leg wrapped around Shinichi higher. She was able to elicit an airy groan from him, and Ran sneered in satisfaction. Once again, they captured each other's lips, this time, hungrily. Ran could almost taste her own sweat from Shinichi's tongue. Shinichi's kiss was driving her to the edge. Not long after, Ran felt Shinichi's hand fumbling its way inside her shirt. His touch was cold on her skin, a stark contrast with the warmth of the season. His hand settled at the bottom of her torso.

Ran got nervous. She knew in her mind that this was all too sudden, and her heart was racing so fast that she felt like it was going to burst any second. But when she semi-opened her eyes during their session to steal a glance at Shinichi, what she saw almost drove her to the brink of madness. He was sweating, the beads of sweat intensely rolling down his forehead. His eyes were closed, but even if it was, she could sense the desire emanating from him while he kissed her hard. In the moments where they would briefly separate to breathe, she could see his moist, red lips, a little bit swollen from her playful bites. The strands standing out from his hair already messy from her grasp reflected the sunset's orange hues. And his lean body was so tightly pressed against her, giving her more than just butterflies. Shinichi was _hot. _And this caused her to feel a strange, warm sensation building below her stomach. She couldn't believe she was really doing this with Kudou Shinichi, her childhood friend turned boyfriend. The mystery freak who only seemed to care about solving crimes and catching culprits was right here in front of her, with his guard down like a normal teenager, his hair and clothes in disarray, savoring the moment and not minding anything else as he made out with the only girl who could turn him like this.

Seeing her boyfriend in that state made the room hotter than it already was. And it was turning her on _so freaking much_, especially when she knew it was no other than her, Mouri Ran, who was causing him to be this way.

Shinichi slightly tugged the hem of Ran's shirt. By this time, her white polo shirt was not anymore tucked inside her skirt. Ran's brain had already given up control over her faculties, and her hands now had a mind of its own. One hand grabbed Shinichi's hand touching her back, in order to guide it to her front. At first, Ran felt Shinichi's hand hesitate under her own from this sudden bold gesture on her part, but eventually he complied. Now, Shinichi's hand was settling on the side of her stomach. With every kiss, tilt of head, and gasp for air, his hand would travel her delicate skin half a centimeter north.

Shinichi continued moving his hand upwards, massaging Ran's skin until he felt something lacy at the tip of his thumb. He clearly recognized what it was. Slowly, he opened his eyes to look at the girl breathing heavily in front of him. Without saying anything, he stared at her eyes pleadingly, raised his eyebrows with a matching bob of the head, as if requesting for her permission to continue. With her half-opened mouth and impious gaze, Ran nodded faintly, and with this, he fully understood that she meant it was okay to proceed.

And so he did.

Still maintaining their ardent eye to eye contact, he snaked his hand inside the lacy fabric…slowly….

Until they heard footsteps and humming faintly approaching.

One.

Two.

Three.

It took three seconds for them to finally realize everything.

_Crap!_ _That's Sonoko!_

The eyes of the two, which were filled with desire seconds ago, now mutually screamed panic. They had no excuse if someone, moreso Sonoko, saw them like this. With their appearance – Shinichi's disheveled hair and swollen lips, his blazer scattered on the floor, Ran's wrinkled and untucked shirt, and that fresh bite mark near her collarbone – Sonoko would obviously know what's up. Ran, in that moment, wished she could teleport to the bathroom and hide in one of the stalls to fix herself. But she had no time to make such wishful thinking. She needed to fix herself fast or else Sonoko would witness them in this awkward situation. As swift as the wind, Shinichi withdrew his hand from under Ran's shirt, released the trapped Ran, and backed two steps away from her. He hastily combed his hair with his fingers using the reflection of the window beside him as his mirror. Ran, on the other hand, frantically smoothed out her creased white shirt and tucked its hem under her skirt. Thankfully, the mark Shinichi left on her neck could be covered by her school uniform if fully buttoned. Afterwards, Ran repeatedly slapped her cheeks with her two hands in attempt to regulate her breathing and regain her composure. At that time, Shinichi had already fixed himself and was wearing his blazer once more. He picked up the English book and the handkerchief on the ground, then tiptoed to Ran to hand her the latter. Shinichi smiled and gave her a quick forehead kiss before finally walking out to greet their other friend. Funny how they did all of this in ten seconds or less.

Shinichi emerged first before Sonoko could even reach the aisle where the two hid. Carrying with him the English book, he greeted Sonoko as casually as possible. He didn't look her in the eye. He just wanted to reach their table before their friend could make sense out of his flushed cheeks and plumper lips. When he passed by Sonoko, he lowered his head a little, licked his lips and pursed it together in order to conceal any hints of his previous, erm, activity with Ran.

Upon reaching his seat, Shinichi took a deep breath, stared into space for a few seconds, then turned his gaze to the direction of the shelves. Sonoko's attention was already on Ran, who had emerged from the shelves shortly after he did. The two girls stood at the edge of the row of shelves near the card catalog, and Sonoko was gleefully narrating something to Ran, but Shinichi couldn't understand what it was. However, he believed it was safe to assume that Sonoko had no slightest clue of what just happened, as she was so engrossed telling a story to Ran, who was only pretending to listen.

Shinichi's eyes reverted to the shelves. He blinked.

"_Over there, a while ago, Ran and I were…"_

He stopped his thoughts and shut his eyes. He needed to get his shit back together and resume with his work. He hoped, though, that he would be able to concentrate.

Sighing one last time, he opened the textbook and began answering.

xxxx

xxxx

Shinichi finished both English and Chemistry exercises in half an hour. The sun had almost set and the sky had already turned wine red, signifying that it was almost evening. The temperature had now dropped a bit but nevertheless it was still warm. While Shinichi was focused on the exercises, Sera and Sonoko were busy chatting with each other, and at some point the librarian even approached them to shush them. But Ran, during the whole time, was just staring blankly at the pile of books in front of her, as if in a trance. Sera noticed her unusual silence, so she interrupted Sonoko's talk and waved her hand in front of Ran's face across the table to ask her what was wrong. With that, Ran snapped back to reality.

"It's nothing, Sera-san!" she exclaimed. Sera wasn't convinced, so Ran struggled to find an excuse. "Uh…I'm just hungry," she retorted.

Sera took her answer well after noticing her own hunger herself. "Come to think of it, my stomach is rumbling, too. But I think Kudo-kun is already finished so we're going to eat ramen soon!"

True enough, Shinichi had already stacked all textbooks together and had placed them in the returning rack while the three girls were conversing. This signaled the others to pack their stuff and clear the table. Slowly but surely, Shinichi walked towards Ran as she was closing her bag. Once he was beside her, he cleared his voice.

"You okay, Ran?" he asked.

Ran looked at him. Streaks of red color on their cheeks resurfaced.

"…Y-yes," Ran responded shyly. Their gazes locked one more time. From each other's eyes, they saw the events from earlier flash back.

Yet instead of looking away, they both smiled.

"Ooohh would you look at that! Ne, did something happen while I was away?" Sonoko suggestively raised her eyebrow at Ran and Shinichi.

"What are you talking about!" Ran defended as the four walked out the door. Sera and Sonoko continued to tease Ran while Shinichi kept a disinterested face behind them, but his blushing cheeks betrayed him.

After they stepped out of the room, the lone librarian stood up from her station and went to the door. Watching the group from a distance, she gave a particularly long look at the unsuspecting Shinichi and Ran. The corner of her lips tilted up to form a smirk, and she shook her head left and right as she observed the four students disappear into a corner at the end of the corridor.

"These young people…" she mumbled before closing the library door.

**-END-**

* * *

**A/N: **This is my first ever fic, so I apologize for grammar lapses and inconsistencies I may have overlooked. Also, this fic was literally inspired by one dream I had one week ago HAHAHA. I literally dreamt of Shinichi kissing Ran in a library and ever since then I couldn't get it off my mind. So I had to write about it even though I'm not a writer myself. I just need to satisfy my ShinRan heart UwU

Thank you for reading! ;_; Comments and constructive criticisms are very much appreciated! *heart*

**EDIT 04-02-20: **I made a sequel entitled _Heat of the Moment; _it's rated M (surprise). I didn't put it as a second chapter here because the way I wrote it is kinda different, like the writing style is different. Besides it can be a standalone. If you like this story you may want to check it out! :) Thank you!


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